RECIPE -Banging Bolognese!

Now I know my last recipe was pasta.

This one is pasta.

The next one is going to be pasta (lasagne)

Can you tell I like pasta?!

Anyway, I remember having bolognese since I was teeny tiny. My dad makes a thick hearty one, my mum prefers a lighter tomatoey one. I make a mixture of the two.

This sauce freezes incredibly well and is very versatile. I use it in my lasagne recipe which I will be posting shortly.

The sauce serves 4-6
150 calories per serving if serving 6

Dry wholemeal pasta is about 250 calories for 75g

This recipe is chock full of veg and meat and is the ultimate go-to winter comfort dish. Here’s what you will need:

(serves 6)
400 calories per serving with 75g pasta each

You will need:

• 250g lean minced beef (5% fat)
• Slug of olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 large courgette
• 2 large carrots
• 2-4 cloves of garlic
  dependant on preference. In my opinion, you can’t have too much garlic!
• 1 carton of passatta
• Beef stock cube
  I use Knorr stock cubes
• Pasta of your choice
  For this recipe I used spelt pasta. It has a really nutty flavour and is higher in protein than other pastas, but any pasta is fine (even courgetti)
• Cheese to serve
  Parmesan or a good mature cheddar in my opinion are best.
  Grated parmesan – 50cals/2tbsp
  30% less fat cheddar – 100cals/30g

Optional: you could stir in a large handful of spinach, mushrooms (ew) also, if you prefer it more tomatoey, add in a tin of chopped tomatoes instead of the extra water and a large squeeze of tomato puree.

First of all, you need to chop all of the veg. This is where my favourite kitchen tool comes in. The trusty food processor! Obviously if you don’t have a food processor, a knife works fine, it will just take a little more time. In fact, the carrot and courgette work really well grated.

So chop the onions separately, then do the rest of the veg all together.

The reason for doing the onions first is because you want to sweat them down before adding anything else.

So, in a large pan add the onions to some hot oil and stir. Once all coated in the oil, turn the heat down, put the lid on and leave for 5-10 minutes until translucent.

Then, whack the heat back up to add the meat. Break up the meat and stir until brown. This will take about 5 minutes.

Once brown, add the rest of the veg. stir thoroughly, turn the heat back down and heat through for about 10 minutes.

Next, add the passatta. Now here is where you can edit the recipe slightly:

• If you want a meatier sauce, fill the passatta container half full with water, shake around and add that to the pan. Then crumble in a beef stock cube or two (depends how meaty you like it!)
• If you want a tomato-ier sauce, skip the water and stock cubes and add a tin of chopped tomatoes to the pan and a squeeze of tomato puree.

Season with salt and pepper. Bring it up to a boil and turn the heat down to a low simmer, only just bubbling.

And now we wait.

Patience is a virtue with rich pasta sauces. The richness comes with time as the meat and veg really cook down and thicken the sauce. I’d leave this sauce to simmer for at least an hour or two. Even all day if I can wait that long! You want it to look like this:

Riiiiiight at the end is when you want to be adding spinach if you’ve chosen to add it. It wilts down to nothing so put a good couple of handfuls in; more than you’d think.

For tips on how to cook the pasta see my Bacon Pasta recipe here!

Bolognese works particularly well with the pasta stirred through. Sometimes on a really wintery day I even sprinkle with cheese and put in the oven while I have a shower and put my jammies on!

I say the sauce serves 6 but if you’re not counting calories I could easily eat half of it in one go just with a spoon… don’t judge!

Happy eating!

 

RECIPE:

(serves 6)
400 calories with 75g pasta each

• 250g lean minced beef (5% fat)
• Slug of olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 large red pepper
• 1 large courgette
• 2 large carrots
• 2-4 cloves of garlic
• 1 carton of passatta
• Beef stock cube
• Pasta of your choice
  

Optional: Spinach, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, cheese to serve

METHOD

• Finely dice all ingredients
• Sweat the onions in a pan until soft
• Add the mince and turn up the heat. Stir until cooked through.
• Add the rest of the veg, stir and turn down the heat. Cook for 10 minutes.
• Add the passatta, and crumble over the stock cubes if using. Bring to a simmer, put on the lid and let bubble for 60 minutes minimum, but ideally as long as possible.
• If it’s looking watery, reduce with the lid off for a bit.
• If adding spinach, add about 5 mins before serving.
• Taste and season if necessary.
• To cook the pasta bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and stir. Bring the pan back up to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 8-12 minutes.
• Drain the pasta and stir into the sauce
• If desired, sprinkle with a little cheese.

ENJOY!